Broward: Bnai Aviv Byachad Special Needs Hebrew School Class

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Dear and ,Your email of June 9th to the Broward County Autism listserve was forwarded to me because it specifically related to our Special Needs Class at B'nai Aviv Religious School. in Weston. You had some very damaging and incorrect information, which must be quickly corrected.I began this program, called "B'yachad" (Hebrew for "Together") 4 years ago so that we could offer a quality Jewish Education to those students who have special learning needs, which preclude them from being in one of our mainstream Religious School classes. It has a been a huge success and a joy for our entire

synagogue.Our program is co-sponsored by the Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education (C.A.J.E.) in Broward County. Rabbi Ezra Levy from C.A.J.E. was instrumental in developing our program as well as offering on-going support. It is in consultation with him, our Rabbi Sam Kieffer, the classroom teacher and the parents that B'yachad continues to be so worthwhile for our students and their families.In addition to this class, we also have a number of students with special needs, who are enrolled in our mainstream Religious School classes and they receive on-going support through tutors, classroom assistants as well as private Hebrew and Judaic tutoring.Thus far we have had 3 boys who have celebrated their own individual Bar Mitzvah as they reached the age of 13 years. We have no written rules as to what day of the week a student with special needs will have his or her Bar/Bat Mitzvah take place. The dates have been given out

in consultation with Rabbi Kieffer, me, the classroom teacher, and especially the parents of the child. In the case of the past 3 Bar Mitzvah ceremonies, each of the parents requested a non-Shabbat date so that this would suit their child's needs in a more appropriate manner.You wrote the following misinformation:" I've heard of the program in Weston. They won't give Saturday bar/bat mitzvah dates to our kids and I heard one family wasn't allowed to have a bar mitzvah because their son couldn't say the prayers. At Ramat, the Rabbi will work with you and your child and they don't deny our kids the opportunity."You are totally wrong! We deal with each child at the time that the date is given out. It happens that with the past 3 Bar Mitzvahs, each of the families WANTED to have their ceremony on a day

other than Saturday, when we generally have at least 200 people at our Services. Two of the boys had their Bar Mitzvah on different mornings of Chanukah in December 2007 (there were various newspaper articles in The Herald, Sun Sentinel, Jewish Journal and other periodicals about this) and the third boy just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on the Monday morning of Memorial Day Weekend, which the parents had suggested.In the case of these 3 students, I agree that it was most appropriate for them to have their Bar Mitzvah on a day other than Shabbat since on Shabbat morning at B'nai Aviv our service begins at 9:15am and ends by 12noon. Their non-Shabbat services began at 10am and concluded by 11:15am, making this time frame much more appropriate for them.I would like to know who the family is that claims they "weren't allowed to have a Bar Mitzvah because their son couldn't say the prayers." This is false and never happened. We would not

turn away any of our special needs Byachad students. We know that the students in that class have a wide variety of skills and abilities and our tutors work to reach each child's potential.Your statement, "At Ramat, the Rabbi will work with you and your child and they don't deny our kids the opportunity" implies that the Rabbi of Bnai Aviv and our policies are the opposite. Rabbi Kieffer has had experience himself, teaching both high and low functioning special needs students in the Tikvah Special Needs Program at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. He knows first-hand the wide range of special needs and has always been welcoming to these students and their families. To imply otherwise is wrong and damaging.You also need to let your listserve know that our synagogue membership policy for Byachad parents does not require that they become synagogue members. We view this program as an important and unique service to the Jewish Community and we

hope to attract any Jewish child with special needs. Your email is very damaging and wrong. You have my permission to forward my COMPLETE email to your listserve so as to correct any misunderstanding and misinformation. Should you wish to discuss this further, I am more than happy to speak with you. B'nai Aviv is proud of our Byahchad program and Orloff C.A.J.E. and their special needs coordinator, Rabbi Ezra Levy, supports our efforts.I look forward to hearing from you.B'shalom,Melinda Mishkin Kieffer, M.A.Director of Lifelong LearningB'nai Aviv Weston, Florida 33326 Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more! Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008.To: lettmanab@..., sList Subject: Bnai Aviv Byachad Special Needs ClassDate: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:14:13 -0400From: malkakief@...Dear and ,Your email of June 9th to the Broward County Autism listserve was forwarded to me because it specifically related to our Special Needs Class at B'nai Aviv Religious School. in Weston. You had some very damaging and incorrect information, which must be quickly corrected.I began this program, called "B'yachad" (Hebrew for "Together") 4 years ago so that we could offer a quality Jewish Education to those students who have special learning needs, which preclude them from being in one of our mainstream Religious School classes. It has a been a huge success and a joy for our entire synagogue.Our program is co-sponsored by the Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education (C.A.J.E.) in Broward County. Rabbi Ezra Levy from C.A.J.E. was instrumental in developing our program as well as offering on-going support. It is in consultation with him, our Rabbi Sam Kieffer, the classroom teacher and the parents that B'yachad continues to be so worthwhile for our

students and their families.In addition to this class, we also have a number of students with special needs, who are enrolled in our mainstream Religious School classes and they receive on-going support through tutors, classroom assistants as well as private Hebrew and Judaic tutoring.Thus far we have had 3 boys who have celebrated their own individual Bar Mitzvah as they reached the age of 13 years. We have no written rules as to what day of the week a student with special needs will have his or her Bar/Bat Mitzvah take place. The dates have been given out in consultation with Rabbi Kieffer, me, the classroom teacher, and especially the parents of the child. In the case of the past 3 Bar Mitzvah ceremonies, each of the parents requested a non-Shabbat date so that this would suit their child's needs in a more appropriate manner.You wrote the following misinformation:" I've heard of the program in Weston. They won't give Saturday bar/bat mitzvah dates to our kids and I heard one family wasn't allowed to have a bar mitzvah because their son couldn't say the prayers. At Ramat, the Rabbi will work with you and your child and they don't deny our kids the opportunity."You are totally wrong! We deal with each child at the time that the date is given out. It happens that with the past 3 Bar Mitzvahs, each of the families WANTED to have their ceremony on a day other than Saturday, when we generally have at least 200 people at our Services. Two of the boys had their Bar Mitzvah on different mornings of Chanukah in December 2007 (there were various newspaper articles in The Herald, Sun Sentinel, Jewish Journal and other periodicals about this) and the third boy just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on the Monday morning of Memorial Day

Weekend, which the parents had suggested.In the case of these 3 students, I agree that it was most appropriate for them to have their Bar Mitzvah on a day other than Shabbat since on Shabbat morning at B'nai Aviv our service begins at 9:15am and ends by 12noon. Their non-Shabbat services began at 10am and concluded by 11:15am, making this time frame much more appropriate for them.I would like to know who the family is that claims they "weren't allowed to have a Bar Mitzvah because their son couldn't say the prayers." This is false and never happened. We would not turn away any of our special needs Byachad students. We know that the students in that class have a wide variety of skills and abilities and our tutors work to reach each child's potential.Your statement, "At Ramat, the Rabbi will work with you and your child and they don't deny our kids the opportunity" implies that the Rabbi of Bnai Aviv and our policies are the

opposite. Rabbi Kieffer has had experience himself, teaching both high and low functioning special needs students in the Tikvah Special Needs Program at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. He knows first-hand the wide range of special needs and has always been welcoming to these students and their families. To imply otherwise is wrong and damaging.You also need to let your listserve know that our synagogue membership policy for Byachad parents does not require that they become synagogue members. We view this program as an important and unique service to the Jewish Community and we hope to attract any Jewish child with special needs. Your email is very damaging and wrong. You have my permission to forward my COMPLETE email to your listserve so as to correct any misunderstanding and misinformation. Should you wish to discuss this further, I am more than happy to speak with you. B'nai Aviv is proud of our Byahchad

program and Orloff C.A.J.E. and their special needs coordinator, Rabbi Ezra Levy, supports our efforts.I look forward to hearing from you.B'shalom,Melinda Mishkin Kieffer, M.A.Director of Lifelong LearningB'nai Aviv Weston, Florida 33326 Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more!